alibris logo
Textbooks
Popular Subjects >AccountingAgricultureAnthropologyArchitectureArt HistoryAstronomyBiologyBusiness ManagementCalculusChemistryComputer ScienceCriminal JusticeEconomicsEducationEngineeringFinanceGeographyLiteratureMarketingMathematicsNursingPhilosophyPhysicsProgrammingPsychologyReligionSociologyStatisticsTheaterWeb DesigneBooks >Discover eBookseBooks FAQBusiness & EconomicsEducationMathematicsMedicalPsychologyScienceTextbook Buyback >Search For Your BooksBuyback StatusFAQsBack to School Savings >Search New TextbooksPromotionsBack To School GuideInternational Editions
Textbooks Home
Books
Books Subjects >Antiques & CollectiblesArchitectureArtBiblesBiographyBusiness & FinanceCareer & ProfessionalChildren's BooksComicsComputerCookbooksDictionaryDramaEncyclopediaEroticaFamily & RelationshipFantasyFictionGraphic NovelsHealth & FitnessHistoryHorrorHumorMapsMathematicsMemoirsMysteryPoetryReligionRomanceScienceScience FictionSelf HelpSports & RecreationTravelPopular Authors >Atwood, MargaretBoynton, SandraBrown, DanChild, LeeChristie, AgathaClancy, TomConnelly, MichaelDickens, CharlesEvanovich, JanetFitzgerald, F ScottFlynn, GillianFrench, TanaGladwell, MalcolmGrafton, SueGreen, JohnGreene, RobertGrisham, JohnKing, StephenKoontz, DeanLewis, C.S.Martin, George R.R.Meyer, JoyceMorrison, ToniMurakami, HarukiPalahniuk, ChuckPatterson, JamesPicoult, JodiPoe, Edgar AllanPratchett, TerryRowling, JKScarry, RichardSparks, NicholasTolkien, J R RVonnegut, Kurt, Jr.More Popular AuthorsRare Books >Find Rare BooksFirst Edition BooksAntiquarian BooksSigned BooksFind A SellerAbout BooksellingBook CollectingBook SpecialitiesBook ConditionBook RepairCustomer Favorites >Best-SellersNew ReleasesClassicsBargain BooksAdvanced Search >
Books Home
Music
Music Genres >AlternativeBluesChildren's MusicChristian & GospelComedyCountryElectronicFolkHip-HopJazzLatinMetalPopR&B & SoulRapReggaeRockSoundtrackClassical Music >Chamber MusicChoral MusicOperaOrchestral MusicSymphonyVocal MusicPopular Artists >ACDCAlabamaAriana GrandeBillie EilishBruno MarsBTSCardi BChicagoDrakeEaglesEd SheeranElton JohnElvis PresleyEminemGarth BrooksGeorge StraitJourneyJustin BieberKane BrownKaty PerryKidz BopLady GagaLauren DaigleMadonnaMetallicaMichael JacksonNFPink FloydPost MaloneQueenRadioheadRihannaSantanaTaylor SwiftMore Popular ArtistsAdvanced Search >
Music Home
Movies
Movie Genres >ActionAdventureAnimalsAnimeBiographyChildren'sComedyCrimeDocumentaryDramaFamilyFantasyHealth & FitnessHistoryHorrorMusicMusicalMysteryRomanceSci-fiSportThrillerTV ShowsWarWesternPopular Actors >& Directors Alfred HitchcockAmber HeardAnthony HopkinsAntonio BanderasBradley CooperChristian BaleChristopher NolanClint EastwoodDakota FanningDavid LynchDenzel WashingtonDwayne JohnsonEmma RobertsEmma WatsonGuillermo del ToroGuy RitchieHailee SteinfeldJames CameronJohnny DeppLeonardo DiCaprioMartin ScorseseMatt DamonMeryl StreepMorgan FreemanNicole KidmanQuentin TarantinoRobert De NiroRobert Downey Jr.Scarlett JohanssonSpike LeeStanley KubrickSteven SpielbergTim BurtonTom HanksView allCritically Acclaimed >Academy AwardsBest PictureBest ActressBest ActorGolden GlobesCannes Film FestivalPalme d'OrGrand PrixNew York Film CriticsFilm FestivalsAward WinnersAdvanced Search >
Movies Home
Bargains
99 Cent Books >Best-SellingBiographyBusinessCookingFamilyMysteryRomanceScience FictionTravelAll 99 Cent BooksFree Shipping >Items Eligible for Free ShippingFrequently Asked QuestionsDaily Coupons >Promo Coupon CodesDiscount Books >Best-SellingBiographyBusinessCookingFamilyMysteryRomanceScience FictionTravelAll Discount Books
Bargains Home
Explore
Seasonal Guide >Back to SchoolHoliday Gift GuideFall Gift GuideAdventure Gift GuideBusinessCommunity >CommunityDiscussionsReviewsSeller PostsAlibris Blog >Our RecommendationsBest OfSci-fi EssentialsYoung AdultsAuthor Personalities >Author PersonalitiesThe ScienceOur Partner
Explore Home
Blog

The Gathering - Enright, Anne

The Gathering

by

4 Customer Reviews

The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn't the drink that killed him - although that certainly helped - it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother's house, in the winter of 1968. His sister Veronica was there then, as she is now: keeping the dead man company, just for another little while. The Gathering is a family epic, condensed and clarified through the remarkable lens of Anne Enright's unblinking eye. It is also a sexual history: ...

+ Add to Wishlist
loading
  • Book Details
  • Seller
  •
The Gathering
2009, Vintage, London

ISBN-13: 9780099535072

Mass-market paperback

The Gathering
2008, Vintage, London

ISBN-13: 9780099501633

Mass-market paperback

The Gathering
2008, Thorndike Press, Waterville, ME

ISBN-13: 9781410403155

Large type / large print

Hardcover

The Gathering
2008, Naxos AudioBooks, Hong Kong

ISBN-13: 9789626349175

Audiobook CD

The Gathering
2008, Oakhill Publishing Limited, Bath

ISBN-13: 9781846483905

Unabridged edition

Audiobook cassette

The Gathering
2007, Grove Press, Black Cat, New York, NY

ISBN-13: 9780802170392

Trade paperback

The Gathering
2007, Grove Press, New York, NY

ISBN-13: 9780802118738

Hardcover

The Gathering
2007, Jonathan Cape, London, England

ISBN-13: 9780224078733

Hardcover

The Gathering
2007, Jonathan Cape Ltd, London

ISBN-13: 9780224078740

Trade paperback

Browse related Subjects
+ Browse All Subjects
Filter Results
Shipping
Item Condition
Seller Rating
Other Options
Change Currency

All Editions of The Gathering

The Gathering

2009, Mass-market paperback

ISBN-13:

9780099535072

The Gathering

2008, Mass-market paperback

ISBN-13:

9780099501633

The Gathering

2008, Hardcover

ISBN-13:

9781410403155

The Gathering

2008, Audiobook CD

ISBN-13:

9789626349175

The Gathering

2008, Audiobook cassette

ISBN-13:

9781846483905

The Gathering

2007, Trade paperback

ISBN-13:

9780802170392

The Gathering

2007, Hardcover

ISBN-13:

9780802118738

The Gathering

2007, Hardcover

ISBN-13:

9780224078733

The Gathering

2007, Trade paperback

ISBN-13:

9780224078740

Books by Anne Enright

Related Books

Customer Reviews

Write a Review

Gissinglover

Aug 13, 2018

Love, Anger, Sex In A Contemporary Novel

Anne Enright's novel "The Gathering" explores issues of family, love, loss, in the voice of a 38 year old woman, Veronica, reflecting upon the suicide of her brother Liam in a large, modern Irish family. The book is told in a stream of consciousness style as Veronica, while responding to her brother's death and handling the details of retrieving his body from England, reflects upon her life and her family. Some of her recollections, as Veronica admits in the first sentence of the book, may not be accurate as they are covered over by memory and self-interest. Veronica is thus something of an unreliable narrator, and Enright, the author, remains in the background without explicit comment.

This is a difficult book. The various online reviews are thoughtful and perceptive, from those which rated the book a 5 to those which rated the book a 1. I learned something from many of the reviewers whose perspective on the book differs from mine. I came away from my reading mostly disliking the book, and the views of many of my fellow reviewers confirmed my response.

"The Gathering" has many poetical moments and beautiful turns of phrase. The narrator, Veronica, appears to make an attempt to be honest with herself. Thus in the story we hear her views about her own life, her large family, parents, grandparents and siblings, and about her husband and children. In particular, we hear a great deal about love, desire, and sex and Veronica's views of their interrelationships. Veronica is bitter and angry. The author presents her character for what she is to allow the reader to try to understand her.

The poetry and the toughness do not save the book. Most of what Veronica says is too bitter and too angry to be interesting or insightful. In fact, a great deal of it is an extreme form of male-bashing which, alas, differs only in degree from much discussion in recent years and which takes no large degree of courage to express. Veronica is obsessed with male sexuality and lust -- with the smell of a man, with the grossest details of a man's body parts, and with a man's sexual activity. She is angry with the way she feels men approach sex and this anger pervades her book far more than does the death of her brother. Her story is told through the fog of time and much of it remains elliptical. But through much of the book, the theme appears to be that women are sullied by male sexuality at least in the form in which most men pursue sex. Their characters and feelings do not meet Veronica's expectations and approval. The story includes long discussions on Veronica's grandmother, Ada, on her questionable early life, and on her relationship with her two suitors. Veronica is also obsessed with the life of her parents -- and on their large family. She attributes the large family and its difficulties to her father wanting too much sex with her mother -- as if, Veronica observes, he had a right to sex. In her own life, Veronica remembers with fondness a Jewish boyfriend from America during her college years. But she feels little for her husband and finds sex with him repellent in frequency, timing, and quality. He had the sex, she observes archly after one of their times together, I did not. Veronica also resents her husband his career success and her own leaving of the work place to raise her children. Too much of this comes off as a screed and to much of it as a rehearsal of what have become commonplaces in some quarters. While I appreciated the attempt of the book to be frank and to speak honestly about one's feelings, I didn't think the book achieved these goals. I came away not caring much about Veronica. And I had too many questions about her responses to her experiences and her insight to find her story compelling.

I was reminded in this book of a recent American novel called, coincidentally enough, "Veronica" by the American writer Mary Gaitskill. This novel, like "The Gathering" is told in a first-person stream of consciousness style. (The narrator is a woman named Allison and the title character is her friend.) Gaitskill's book is also full of tough reflections on sexuality, derived from Allison's life as a stripper and model. But I found Gaitskill's book, in which the sex is much more lurid than anything in "The Gathering," had the personal voice, the immediacy, and the sense of honesty, that Enright's book aims for but for me failed to achieve.

I struggled with "The Gathering" but couldn't bring myself to like or to recommend it.

Robin Friedman

Cariola

Mar 29, 2008

Too Much Hype?

I haven't yet read most of the other books shortlisted for the Booker Prize, so I won't make a claim as to whether or not The Gathering deserved it. What I can say is that Enright's style is exquisite, and she perfectly portrays the way old wounds and memories come back to haunt us in times of grief and stress. This book won't be for everyone; it's not exactly a feel-good novel. But if you are looking for a book that provides insight into family dynamics and the workings of the human mind and memory, you might enjoy it.

nancyo

Oct 4, 2007

fine writing, but just didn't grab me

Well, I really hate to be blunt, but I might as well get this out. Booker prize material? I don't think so. The Gathering is a fine story about a woman trying to cope after the suicide of her brother. She begins to look back in her life and in that of her rather large Irish family to find out why her brother, the two of them only 11 months apart, would have taken turns in life that led to his death.

The writing is quite good, but I seriously couldn't wrap my head around this book; it really failed to grab me as did the other Booker nominees I've read so far.

I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys stories about grief and coping with loss; it is an incredibly bleak kind of novel,though, so if you're looking for a feel-good kind of read, stay away.

I don't know...maybe it's just me but I just couldn't really embrace this novel. Maybe others will enjoy it much more than I did.

1 Silent Rating

See All Customer Reviews